Turn, if you will, to the book of Hosea, Hosea chapter 1, found on page 953 of your Pew Bible. Hosea chapter 1, beginning with verse 1. The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, go take to yourself a wife of Hordom and have children of Hordom. For the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Deblame, and she conceived and bore him a son. The Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel. And I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, call her name no mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen. And when she had weaned no mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, Call his name not my people. For you are not my people, and I am not your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, it shall be said to them, children of the living God. Well here we begin a bit of a journey through one of the early minor prophets, Hosea. Hosea was a contemporary prophesying in a similar time as that of Isaiah and Amos. And he was a prophet of the north, though his audience is often the south, is often Judah. And it's interesting as we delve into this book, which I mentioned before is and has to do with a love story. That love story is of God for his people, a people that we are introduced to tonight in the person of Gomer, that one whom God sent his servant, Hosea. His name is often translated salvation. God sends Hosea out to take for himself a wife who is known to be given to infidelities, one that pursues the things of the world." Here we see that unusual word that is not common to us in our daily speech, that of whoredom that is here found within Hosea chapter 1. And as we begin to look at this passage this evening, first we'll be looking at a people, a wife, a bride who is known by their sin. And secondly, we'll be looking at how it is that God calls upon his servant Hosea to knowingly take an unfaithful wife. And the outcome of that, seen in the product of that relationship, as we will look at the children that come about in this marriage. But while the beginning of this passage seems to leave us in a pretty awful place, a relationship that is defined by A yearning after other lovers and the attentions of other men. God doesn't leave his rebellious people with no hope. But in fact, at the end of our passage this evening, we see that God holds out hope for his people. So let's look at our passage this evening. We see here that Hosea is ministering in a particularly long period of history. He was a prophet for some 60 plus years, spanning several different reigns of kings in the south. And we see that he's writing in the days of Jeroboam. He mentions Jeroboam because Jeroboam is pretty infamous as one of those who led God's people astray. Not only did they break away from the south and establish their own land, their own set of tribes and nation, but we see here that it was Jeroboam that made such wonderful claims that it just isn't right. that you, my people, would have to travel so far to Jerusalem in order to worship God. Let us instead establish high places here in the north where you might worship as well. Save yourselves the trouble, be spared the difficulties that often could befall those worshipers of God as they would travel great distances to go to Jerusalem for the appointed feasts. Now Jeroboam was one who was known as establishing false places of worship. And we see those places addressed by our Lord when he addresses the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four, where he again reminds her that we worship in Jerusalem while you worship upon this mountain. He was pointing out That division, that which separated them where wrong, false worship was being carried out and likely Jeroboam had even chosen to try to emulate the signs and the uniforms of those who would minister as priests within those false places of worship. But it didn't end there with Jeroboam. We see that not only were they worshiping wrongly after their own designs, but it didn't take long before we see that they were crafting calves and other things that may become their gods, the object of their worship and attention. They had shown themselves unfaithful. They had shown themselves as desiring to find fulfillment in the arms of another. And so in order to impress this not only upon Israel, we see that God tasks his servant to speak not only to Israel, but also to Judah of this common tendency. A tendency which shouldn't have been new to the people of God. The book of Judges is filled with these things where each did what was right in his own eyes. And we see the ups and downs of God's people demonstrated there. We see in these who are being addressed a tendency not to follow after the will of God. but after their own desires and their own wills. And so it is that God sets up an example for his people. Now kids, this isn't an example that we're called to emulate in our dating relationships, to go forth and to seek one who doesn't believe, whose attentions and affections are in others. No, God intends this to be an example to us of our own tendencies when he calls upon his servant, Hosea, or salvation, to go and take for yourself a wife of whoredom, one who's known to be given to the affections of others, to be unfaithful, to be one who seeks after the fulfillment of her own desires, rather than to be obedient and faithful to that one who has taken her as a bride. To go forth and take a wife for yourself from whoredom and to have children from her. For he says the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord. He is painting a picture here of what our sin is before the Lord who loves us, the Lord who has pursued us and overtaken us and drawn us to himself, a Lord willing to take us when we were darkened in sin and to call us his beloved. He's reminding us that each time now when we continue in willful sin, when we fail to use that means of escape that he so lovingly provided, it is as if we are like Gomer herself, seeking after others, other things, other satisfactions. the desire and praise of another. And so he calls upon Hosea to take this unfaithful one to be his wife. And we see that in this union there are children that come about. Now it is argued that there is a difference between the first and the second and third child that are listed within our passage this evening. The first pregnancy may have come about as the product of Hosea and Gomer. For it is the only of the three where we see It described in this way, she conceived and bore him a son. This may have been the product of the early days of their union. And yet we see it is the Lord who in order to make an example of this one who comes out of one who is unfaithful. that God gives a name to the children that are produced. And the first one that is here put before us is Jezreel. Jezreel is not only a place where a great battle took place and many were lost, but it is also translated, and a lot of these names have special meaning. Here this name Jezreel is in this instance understood to mean scattered as God is going to use the example of this love story to impress upon both Israel and Judah his faithfulness even when they are unfaithful. Here he uses the product, this first son that is born, that he commands his name to be called Jezreel to serve as a reminder that their rebellion and their sin will not go unpunished, but that a day is coming when they will be scattered. And we know that this happened first with those tribes to the north, those rebellious ones who established for themselves their own places of worship. That God was pleased to allow them to be overrun and scattered to be dispersed that his word might be fulfilled. And while this first one may have been the product of their own union, we see that God calls him scattered in order that he might punish the house of Jehu for the blood spilt at Jezreel. And he says, I'll put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. Jeroboam may have thought that his transgressions and that his imitations would be satisfactory. And God says, no, I have commanded how I will be approached and I will be worshipped and where I will be worshipped. And your creations will not satisfy me, nor will your following after false gods go unnoticed. For we know that our God is a jealous God, not willing to share that which is his with any others. And yet we see she continues to conceive. And these last two certainly are not the product of their union, Hosea and Gomer. In verse 6 we see, she conceived again and this time bore a daughter. The Lord said to him, call her no mercy. Again, these things stand as a reminder of our holy God, not willing to share His bride, not willing to turn a blind eye to our sins, our rebellion, our seeking after the things of the world, but that these things will be punished, that these things don't deserve His mercy, that one who is faithful, that one who sought us out in our calamitous situation. And so this daughter is called, no mercy for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah. And I will save them by the Lord, their God. What will be their means of escape? What will be their means of restoration? From whence will their salvation come? It will come by God. And we know who it is that that salvation will come. It will come only by Jesus Christ, that one who is the fulfillment of God's promised Savior. the Promised One of Israel, the root of David. From Him we will be saved. From Him we will receive mercy. It won't come by what we do. It won't come by the strength of our arms. It won't come by military might. It won't come through times of economic success and at this time in the reign of Jeroboam, Israel was enjoying a time of abundance. And yet it's often in times of great abundance that we can become ourselves quite enraptured with what our abundance can achieve for us, what desires we may see fulfilled by the surpluses that we are enjoying. And we may forget of our need of God. Our gaze may be diverted. And we find ourselves straying off of the path laid out for us by Christ. And we find ourselves taking on all of the accoutrements of the world. Becoming ourselves increasingly indistinguishable from the world. And we're going to see as we move further through this book of Hosea. It doesn't end well for Gomer as she pursues these things. Her yearnings, those things that she believed her lovers could give to her, don't materialize. Or those things that first capture her attention and her affection prove fleeting, not lasting, empty. vacuous, leaving her in a most destitute state. And then she conceives again. She conceived and bore another son. And this one, the Lord said, call his name not my people. Her behavior manifest Her affections were elsewhere. It was abundantly clear that Gomer's affection was not for her husband, not for God and the things of God. And so he could rightly say, you are not my people. For it was abundantly clear they were not living as if they recognized him to be their God. their rightful husband. If you're the nation of Israel or Judah and you're hearing these things and you understand that this is an expression of what has become my behavior. The nature of my sin viewed by that God who loved me so much to deliver me out of the hands of Pharaoh, to establish me and my forefathers in that promised land. That he would say a time is coming when we'll be scattered, driven from this place of promise. When we no longer would enjoy his mercy. Or that we would lose that label which once set us apart as the called out ones of the world, His people, and would no longer be His people. These are terrible and frightening things to hear, as they are intended to be from a loving God, from our faithful God. that He might awaken us from the slumber of our sin, that He might rouse us from the vacuous pursuits of our desires, that instead we might return to Him. And as I said earlier, if He left us there, Oh, how we might be given to despair for, brothers and sisters, we live in one of the most affluent nations in the world. A society which is skilled probably beyond many others in our capability to make consumers, to speak to you across the airwaves and across our televisions and convince you of your needs. and attract your attention to any number of things that can become the pursuits of your heart apart from Christ. The danger is real, just as real for us today as it was for those who lived in the time of Hosea. Our tendencies are just as great today as they were then. apart from Christ and apart from relying upon Christ. If he had left us there, we would despair, but God yet holds out hope. Look at the end of our passage this evening. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, it shall be said to them, children of the living God. And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and they shall appoint for themselves one head and they shall go up from the land for great shall be the day of Jezreel. God says there is a time coming when this shame of our sin will be covered by that one who has been promised, by God himself who came to us in the form of Jesus Christ, the God-man, who would be that one who would lead his people. We look this evening, we're reminded even this morning of that good shepherd that one who will lead his people. And here is Hosea saying that a time is coming when the Savior will come and he will gather his people together and they will be once again called by his name and they will be lovingly led by him. I mentioned that this is a love story, it's the story of God's love for us, his people. And he loved us when we were in pretty miserable condition, consumed with, enslaved to sin and yet he pursued us. And by Christ, he has made us his bride. And he calls upon us to walk according to his ways, to be obedient to his commands. That we might be a radiant bride. to that one who is our king and our husband, Jesus Christ. And so we'll continue to look through this book in the coming weeks to grow in our appreciation of the great pursuits of our God. His faithful, unending love for all those who are his. That we might be encouraged that we might be awakened from our sin, confess our sin, and seek his forgiveness that we might be to him a faithful bride to do his will. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word. We thank you for these reminders of how, Lord, we are so easily found to be unfaithful Neglecting your commands, pursuing rather than your will, our own wills, attracted by the things of the world, Lord, to our own peril. Lord, we are weak and disobedient. And Lord, we pray that you would remedy this within us as you would be pleased to sanctify us. That day by day, Lord, we would in greater measure walk in accord with your commands to the glory of your name, a testimony to the powerful work of Christ within us. And Lord, which yields a loving obedience by your bride. Thank you, Lord, for loving us when we were unlovable. Thank you, Lord, for pursuing us who rebelled and ran after others. Thank you for remaining true when we did not. And thank you, Lord, for not leaving us in a state of despair, but for the hope that you hold out for us in Christ. We pray these things in his name, amen.